Mitchell Lopez
}} Mitchell Lopez was a Terran Confederation pilot serving on the . He came from a renowned line of guitar manufacturers who have a passion for music and he himself possesses a guitar that's well over 200 years old. He claimed that the sound got better with each passing day. When he was not on duty, he could almost always be found strumming one of his beloved guitars. He dreamed of eventually opening a cantina where he could hire performers to play his guitars and hanging out with his fellow pilots. History Mitchell Lopez was a citizen of the Terran Confederation of Argentinian descent who hailed from the planet Dakota. He lived on the planet with his parents and was the first of his family to travel into space. Mitchell joined the ranks while in his twenties and by the year 2669 held the rank of Lieutenant on the . There he was assigned to the Gold Squadron and befriended pilots Winston Chang and Laurel Buckley. Mitchell proved to be a very skilled pilot, and eventually took on the callsign "Vaquero", which means "cowboy" in Spanish. Vaquero kept his guitars along for the ride, and was very sociable among his comrades. He once won a Pilot of the Month Award for saving two ejected pilots. Vaquero met Colonel Christopher Blair after the latter's assignment to the Victory and took great pleasure at flying by his side. He fought in several important campaigns of the Kilrathi War, such as the Ariel Offensive, the defense of the , and the defense of Locanda IV. Unlike Cobra, his dislike for the Kilrathi was not as heated or as personal, but didn't hesitate to express his opinions when Crown Prince Thrakhath nar Kiranka sent a propaganda-filled transmission to the Victory. After the Behemoth was destroyed by the Kilrathi, Vaquero's friend Cobra was fatally wounded by Colonel Ralgha nar Hhallas when he betrayed them and fled the Victory in order to rejoin the Kilrathi. Vaquero comforted her as she lay dying from her wounds. Cobra revealed that Colonel Ralgha, or "Hobbes", had bugged the briefing room while the specifications for both the Behemoth and the Temblor Bomb were revealed to Colonel Blair and Captain William Eisen. Vaquero insisted that they get Cobra to the infirmary, but she was too far gone and died in his arms. At that point, Colonel Blair left the Victory to pursue Hobbes against Captain Eisen's orders. While Blair succeeded in killing Hobbes, the Victory was ambushed by Kilrathi fighters as he did so. Vaquero immediately went to the carrier's defense, but was tragically shot down just as Colonel Blair returned. Colonel Blair was severely reprimanded by Captain Eisen for his failure to obey orders, as that was what led to Vaquero's death. Out of guilt for his failure, Blair wrote the death-comm for Vaquero's family. Vaquero's guitar and his belongings were shipped back to his family on Dakota. He was given a traditional burial in space, and never fulfilled his dream to open his cantina. Behind the Scenes *In the FMVs, Vaquero is played by actor Julian Reyes. category:Terranscategory:Terran Confederation pilotscategory:Victory personnel